Hell

I've always associated hell with consequences and with justice. I've always thought of it as, in theory, a place where people go to face retribution for the manner in which they had lived their lives. As I've gone through life, I can't whole heartedly say that I've met anyone who gave me reason to believe that they should go to hell, but I've certainly heard of people throughout history and in the modern day, whom I believe will go there if it does in fact exist. Unfortunately, I feel that the idea of hell has been mainly used as a sort of boogey man to get people to behave properly. So many people do good things simply out of fear of the consequences they believe they will receive if they don't. Too many people let themselves get wrapped up in the idea of punishment that they have forgotten how to avoid misdeeds simply due to the fact that they are wrong. Now that's not to say that some people don't need the fear of punishment to motivate them, but I feel that it's really a disingenuous reason to avoid committing evil acts. Even if hell isn't real, the concept in and of itself has been such an integral part in the narrative of so many religions, that, in a fashion, it is real, especially to those who adhere to said religions. The concept of hell is certainly frightening. "A place of wailing and the grinding of teeth" is what I believe the bible said about it, and that certainly is a ghastly description. Then there's the commonly accepted public domain idea of hell being a fiery pit in the ground where evil people will burn for all eternity, which is particularly disturbing as well. No matter what you think hell is like, the fear of it in and of itself has driven people to behave in a manner they believe will spare them such a punishment, which is more often than not "good". We've all done bad things in our lives, but I'd like to believe that for most people, the good acts they have done will outweigh the bad and very few of us will have to suffer a fate in such a place if it does in fact exist.